M A I N   N E W S

Relief to Pakistan hits Customs roadblock
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

There are confirmed reports that many houses of Hindus and Sikhs have also been destroyed by the earthquake in Pakistan. A Pakistan official, Mr Farhaz, told The Tribune on the telephone that casualities of Hindus and Sikhs were also reported from different parts of the country.

It was on the intervention of Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, Punjab, that Customs officials cleared two trucks to Pakistan in the afternoon while they said the rest of the relief material would be sent after the daily retreat ceremony. Senior officials of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and the Pakistan Evacuee Property Trust Board had to wait for several hours across the Wagah post to receive the relief material. Earlier, Mr Aziz Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador, and Mr Mukhtar Hussain Tirmizi of the Pakistan Embassy at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj flagged off the relief material yesterday.

While the MEA took to time in granting permission to send the relief material via the land route, it took an long time to convince local Customs officials that the DSGMC was carrying relevant documents with it.

Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, DSGMC chief, said apart from DSGMC members, the Dera of Baba Jagtar Singh and his followers Baba Amrik Singh also helped in collecting the relief material. Among those who took the relief material to Pakistan were Baba Amrik Singh, Mr Inderjit Singh Monty, Prof Harminder Singh, Mr Kulwant Singh, Mr Tarlochan Singh and Mr Daljit Singh Shaan.